


Not Worth It

by byleeer_babie



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Jealous Will Byers, M/M, Oblivious Mike Wheeler, Pre-Relationship, Sad Will Byers, popular jane hopper
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-13
Updated: 2020-11-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:59:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27546469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/byleeer_babie/pseuds/byleeer_babie
Summary: In which Will Byers is in love with his best friend, but Mike has his eye on someone else.
Relationships: Will Byers/Mike Wheeler
Comments: 4
Kudos: 38





	Not Worth It

**Author's Note:**

> This is mainly just drabble - enjoy!

Will yawned loudly as he crawled into his bed. There was already someone in it, Mike- his best friend, as they were having a sleepover. It was actually the night before the boys started their senior year at Hawkins High, and Joyce wasn't too pleased with the last minute plans:

_"But_ **_mom_ ** _, how am I meant to cope with the end-of-holidays depression without Mike here?"_

_"Yeah, Mrs Byers! The last day is the_ **_worst_ ** _!"_

_"C'mon mom,_ **_please_ ** _. We'll be asleep by 12!"_

_"12! No way!" Joyce exclaimed. "I'm sorry Mike, I don't think you should-"_

_"What about 11:30?"_

_Joyce sighed, "_ **_10_ ** _:30."_

_"_ **_11_ ** _:30, and I'll do the shopping on Sunday." Will persuaded._

_"I can help him." Mike encouraged. "Please, Mrs Byers."_

_The older woman put her hands on her hips and stared between her son and his best friend's puppy eyes. She knew she would never win. "Ok," She cut off the two teens as they cheered. "_ **_But_ ** _, lights out at 11:30,_ **_sharp_ ** _."_

_"You got it mom!" Will exclaimed. He grabbed Mike's hand and rushed passed his mother so he could get to his room._

_"Make sure to brush your teeth before bed!"_

_"We_ **_know_ ** _, mom." He groaned. He shut the door after pulling Mike inside. Turning to the curly-haired boy, he sparked- "Wanna read a comic?"_

Now, at almost 12:30, both boys lay side by side on Will's small bed. It was hardly big enough to fit _one_ person, never mind _two_ , and Will always grew hot at how close they had to be so they could lay inside.

"So Byers." Mike began, turning in his side so he could face Will, who was staring up at the ceiling. The other boy turned his face slightly so he could look at him, their noses inches apart. "Senior year, huh? Got any goals?"

Will shrugged awkwardly in the small space. "I don't know. We gotta start looking for colleges and if I want to get into a good art one, then I've got to have something to offer. I guess I'll just carry on with Art and the AV club."

Mike hummed, "Will, you're _amazing_ at art. I have no doubt you'll get into any college you want. In fact, they'd be begging for you."

Will blushed. "That's not true."

Mike smiled sweetly at his best friend. "Friends don't lie." They lay in a comfortable silence for a moment, when Mike broke it, speaking again. "You wanna know, what I'm gonna achieve this year?"

Will raised an eyebrow, "Should I be worried?"

Mike groaned and playfully shoved the other boy, who cackled. "Alright be like that then asshole."

Will sniggered, "Alright Wheeler, what are you gonna achieve this year."

Mike smirked. "I'm gonna get Jane Hopper to go out with me."

Will's smile dropped. He wasn't expecting that. Mike had been 'in love' with Jane Hopper since 3rd grade, but he had never had the courage to ask her out.

("Are you _kidding_ , I can't just _go_ _up_ _to_ _her_ and ask her out!"

"Why not?"

"Because she's pretty and popular... and she'd laugh at me. No, I need a proper plan.")

Will never understood what Mike saw in her. But then again, Will was very gay and very much in love with with his best friend - not that anybody knew or was going to find out.

"So you'll finally grow the balls to ask her out then?" Will asked, plastering a smile onto his face.

"Yep... well, _hopefully_. I've got a plan!" Mike exclaimed, sounding very pleased with him self. Will raised his eyebrows again, encouraging him to go on. "So you know Jessy?"

Ah yes, Jessy. Mike's new flashy car he had gotten for his 17 birthday. Will nodded.

"I'm going to impress Jane with her."

" _What_?" Will gawped. _This_ was Mike's master plan?

"Yep! When she sees that beauty, she gonna be all over it." Mike smirked.

Will sighed. "Mike, if you have to have a fancy car to go out with Jane Hopper, then I don't think she's worth. You should go out with someone who genuinely _likes_ you." _Like me._

"I know. You see, when I manage to convince Jane Hopper to go out with me, she'll begin to see the real me and fall in love! I'm a genius."

"Yeah, a genius..." Will breathed. _If you say so._ With that the boys both laid down and began to drift off- one with with a intent smile on his face and the other with a bitter and jealous grimace.

**_;_ **

Will was woken up early in the morning by a pair of sweatpants. Well, it was actually _Mike,_ who was flapping the item of clothing in front of his face.

"Wake up Byers. First day of school!" He exclaimed.

Will groaned and rubbed his eyes. "Since when are you so excited for school?" He joked.

"Since I know I'm gonna see Jane Hopper at school! I'm gonna ask her out today!"

Will forced himself not to frown. "You gonna ask her straight away? You've not seen her all Summer!"

"Well, yeah." Mike shrugged. He then grew nervous. "Wait- you think I shouldn't?"

Will yawned, and shrugged. "I dunno, man. I just think it would come across as kind of creepy. But you do whatever."

Mike anxiously bit his lip. After a few moments, he sighed. "Well, we'll see I guess. For now, get up." He said, hitting his best friend with the sweats "I wanna get coffee before school."

**_;_ **

After a stressful morning of deciding what to wear, styling his hair and eating burnt toast, Will was now sat shotgun in Mike's new car. They had just gotten some coffee and were getting close to their high school. Suddenly though, Mike gasped, shocking Will.

"What?! What happened?!" He asked stricken.

Mike lifted a hand from the steering wheel and pointed to a figure who was walking down the street a few hundred metres ahead of them. Will squinted his eyes to see who it was.

"That's Jane! Jane Hopper!" Mike exclaimed excitedly.

"Great..." Will muttered quietly. He noticed that Mike had slowed down the car and they were now driving along side Jane Hopper who seemed to _actually be walking_ to school for once.

"Hi Jane!" Mike said, over enthusiastically, as he rolled down the windows. Jane Hopper turned to them and almost seemed to have taken a sharp intake when seeing who it was.

Chewing her gum, she said, "Hey."

"Hey." Mike replied. Will cringed at the slow- going conversation, "You uh, you heading to school?"

"Yeah."

"Cool. Us too!" Jane didn't respond or react in anyway. Mike awkwardly cleared his throat. "You... you wanna ride with us?" Will stared over at his best friend in disbelief.

_Seriously...?_

Jane shrugged and walked round the car over to the front passenger's seat. She stared expectantly at Will, popping her gum.

"What?" He asked, "You can't sit at the back?"

" _Will._ " Mike said in between clenched teeth.

"I get travel sick." Jane droned, smacking her gum loudly. Will looked over to his best friend raising his eyebrows. Mike put his hands together, begging Will for a chance to be with Jane. Will huffed and dramatically opened the door, slamming it shut before Jane could get in.

" _Rude_..." she muttered, snarkily. If she didn't intimidate him so much, Will would have flipped her off.

Jane strapped herself in. "Ugh, what _is_ this music?" She asked. Mike muttered an apology and Will watched as he took out the mixtape that _he_ had made for him. He switched on the car's radio, and Jane hummed contently.

He couldn't believe this was happening. Mike was putting Jane Hopper before his best friend! They're going to have to talk about this later.

**_;_ **

Will wasn't having the best day so far. He didn't have _any_ classes with Mike and only a few with his other friends. Great. _And_ , turns out that the AV club and art club are hosted on the same days, so he'd only be able to pick one or the other.

He couldn't wait for lunch.

But when it had finally come around, he found that he was disappointed again.

He was currently sitting at a table with Dustin and Lucas. Max had to come from the other side of the building so wasn't there yet and Mike seemed to be running late.

The three boys were just catching up despite seeing each other on Saturday, when Mike had ran to their table a huge smile was on his face. "Guess what?!" He practically yelled with excitement.

This was either going to be very _good,_ or very _bad._ Guess which one it was.

"Jane Hopper invited me to sit with her at lunch!" Will stared in horror and jealousy as the other boys congratulated Mike for finally getting Jane Hopper to notice him.

Mike looked at Will expectantly and he had to swallow back his frown. He didn't trust himself to speak so he just raised two thumbs, causing Mike to smile bigger.

As Will watched him leave, Max joined the table, asking about what just happened. Will bitterly stayed out of the conversation, his head resting on his hand. He picked at his sandwich, and when Max asked what was wrong, he just told her that he's fine- when actually he's not, not at all.

**_;_ **

Finally, it was the end of the day and Will couldn't be happier. He had decided to ride home in Lucas' van instead of Mike's car, as he had offered to drop Jane off.

Even though he had already gotten homework, Will decided to draw instead of doing it (fuck the teachers, right?)

Pulling out his already full sketchbook, Will slumped onto his messy bed and opened his latest picture of his mom, deciding to finish it. However, as he was about to start drawing, a loud knock banged on his window.

He almost had a heart attack when he saw a grinning Mike Wheeler outside his window. Sighing, he went to open it, stepping aside as Mike climbed in.

"Seriously, Mike? You couldn't have used the front door?"

"I didn't think your mom would be too happy to see me... _again_." He shrugged.

"She loves you."

Mike smiled, but then it faltered. "I thought you were gonna ride home with me today?" Will rubbed his neck, sheepishly.

"I didn't want to interrupt you and _Jane_." He spoke. He was lying, he would've done anything to stop the two of them from being together, but he didn't want to be in the third wheel position.

Mike frowned. "It's only a one time thing, I can drive you home next time."

"Mike, seriously it's fine. I got a ride from Lucas anyway." He reasoned, casually. When Mike's frown remained, he decided it was time to change the subject.

"Sooo... how was lunch?" Will asked, lying on his bed. Mike grinned and made his way to Will's spinning desk chair.

"It was amazing! She asked me to thank me for giving her a ride today. And... I asked her out on a date!"

Will's head shot up from his bed. Mike had gone tomato red. "W- _what_?" He choked out.

"Yeah... we're going Scoops on Saturday." Mike said. Will was growing more and more jealous of Jane, and he hated himself for it. For being so selfish.

"I- I thought, we were going to the Palace on Saturday." Will asked, eyes narrowing.

Mike sighed guiltily, "Actually, that was why I came over. I can't go on Saturday." Before Will could interrupt, he carried on. "But we can go in Sunday, if you want?"

"Why can't you go out with Jane on Sunday?" Will asked unimpressed.

Mike sighed, "She's busy on Sunday..."

"So! What if _I'm_ busy on Sunday?" Will asked, heatedly. He knew he was being irrational, but he couldn't stop himself.

Mike shrugged pathetically. "I-I don't know..."

"Are you actually going to ditch me for Jane?"

"Hey." Mike frowned. "It's just one date. I promise it won't happen again."

Will crossed his arms. "It better not." Getting off his bed, he went to grab his bag which had been tossed by his door. "You should go."

"What?"

"You should go." He repeated, pulling out everything from his bag and slamming it on the desk behind Mike. "I've got homework.

**_;_ **

Will couldn't believe this. 3rd time in a fucking row. Mike had ditched him 3 times now. He had promised not to let dates with Jane overlap with when they got to hang out. Sure, Will and Mike still hung out loads, but a lot of it was Mike apologising to Will for bailing on him- again.

By the 4th time, enough was enough. Mike was coming over in around 20 minutes. Will could confront him about it then.

When Mike had finally arrived, he could straight away tell that his best friend wasn't happy. He didn't seem angry either, just _sad._

"What's up?" Mike asked carefully. Will bit his lip.

"You're putting Jane before me."

Mike stared at him in confusion. " _What?_ That's not true! You're my best friend! You're always first-"

"Mike stop." Will said, holding up a hand. "You're putting Jane before me. You've bailed on me 4 times. You _promised_ you wouldn't."

"I-I'm sorry." He said weakly.

"Sorry isn't good enough!" Will exploded. "You _promised_ that Jane wouldn't get in between us. And she has. When was the last time we hung out?"

"Yesterday...?"

"Ok maybe, but- but Jane... she's bad news Mike!"

"What are you talking about!? She's great!"

"She's only using you to drop her off to school-"

"That's what a good boyfriend does!"

"She's changing you to become what _she_ likes, not who _you_ actually are."

"That's not true! You're just jealous!"

"Jealous of what?!"

"Jealous that she's cooler than you!"

Will scoffed, "At least I'm not pretending to be someone I'm not, to impress someone. She's not even worth it Mike!"

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?!"

"You don't think this is actually going to last, do you? I'm sorry Mike, but Jane moves on from boy to boy in the space of _weeks,_ and you know it! You're just another boy in the list."

Mike sulked quietly; he really didn't need this right now. "Thanks for the support..."

Will softens just a little, "Mike..."

"No, I'm gonna go." He said, leaving the bedroom. Will followed him across the hall.

"Where are you going? Come on Mike, don't leave!" Will begged.

"I'm going to go see my _girlfriend_."

Will stopped, his shoulders deflating. This was it- the end of their friendship.

"You..." he sighed, holding back tears. "You really like her don't you...?"

Mike turned towards him hand on the door, a look of disbelief on his face. "Of course I like her!" He watched as his best- as Will rubbed his eyes.

"I just... just thought..." he whispered.

"What?" Mike asked.

Will wiped it his eyes harshly once more and then put back up his hard act. "Nothing. Just leave." He walked backwards, ending up back at his opened bedroom door.

"Fine!" Mike yelled, opening the front door.

"Fine!" Will yelled back. Before Mike left he heard Will call back once more. "And Mike... when she breaks your heart, don't come running back to me. You chose her, after all."

And with that, Mike heard a final slam of a door. He winced as he heard the bang, and quickly walked away from the house, wiping tears as he did.

**_;_ **

A few weeks later, Will was surprised (and very upset) to find that Jane and Mike we're still together. It hurt him- the two boys hadn't spoken in ages, and Will _hated_ it.

It didn't matter if Mike and Jane were dating- Will just really wanted his best friend back.

But at around 9:00 on Friday night, a mysterious phone call rang through the house...

(Not really)

Joyce had groaned about getting up from the sofa and walking to the phone, complaining about _what idiot would call at this time._

Surprisingly though, it was Mike.

Will rushed to the living room phone, asking his mom if she could make herself scarce for a bit. She put her hands up in defence and walked to her bedroom.

With the phone clutched tightly in both hands, Will nervously spoke, "Hello?"

A small sniffle could be heard from the caller, and the thickness of Mike's voice indicated to Will that he had been crying.

"You were right." Mike choked into the phone. Will didn't speak for a moment. He _knew_ this would happen. He _knew_ Mike would get his heartbroken. He _knew_ he had every right to just end the call and never speak to Mike Wheeler ever again.

But it was Mike Wheeler who had always been by his side, so now it was time for Will to be by _his_. Loosening his grip on the phone, he said, "I'll be over in 20."

Will slammed the phone back on the holder ( **what were they called again??** ) and ran into the kitchen. His mom walked into the kitchen after him.

"What's going on?" She asked. Will ran to the freezer and pulled out a big tub of chocolate ice cream. Putting it in a bag, he ran to the front door and pulled on his black trainers.

"I'm going to Mike's."

Joyce frowned. " _Now_? Will, it's 9 o clock!" She said.

"Mike needs me. It's fine, I can take the car." Will reasoned.

"But-"

"Mom." He cut her off. "I'll be fine." Joyce sighed and nodded. Will grinned at her and kissed her cheek.

"I'll probably see you tomorrow." He told her. Joyce threw Will the keys and he ran out the front door and to the car.

Once Will had finally got to Mike's house, the door was opened by Karen Wheeler. "Hi Will! I haven't seen you in a while!"

Will smiled, "Yeah, I know! Uh... is Mike in the basement?" Karen nodded.

"Wait Will?" She called to him. Will turned around to look at her. "He's a bit upset. Make him feel better?"

Will nodded, raising the bag he was holding. "I'll try."

He waved back at Karen and made his way down into the basement. Closing the door behind him, he called, "Mike...?"

Mike was lying on the couch, a pillow over his face. When he looked up at the voice, Will saw that his eyes were bloodshot. "Hey." He said, then slumping the pillow back onto his face.

Will sighed and walked down the steps towards Mike. He knew Mike probably didn't want to talk about what happened just yet so he decided to question him later. "I brought you this." He said, dumping the bag on Mike's chest.

Taking the pillow off his face, Mike sat up and looked inside the plastic bag. Pulling out the tub of ice cream, he looked at Will. Will blushed, suddenly feeling embarrassed.

"I just thought you'd need cheering up." He explained, looking down. But Mike didn't say anything. Instead he jumped up from the sofa and placed the tub of ice cream on a coffee table in front of him. He ran up the stairs to exit the basement. Will watched him go with worry and confusion. "Where are you going?"

"I'll be right back."

A few minutes later, Mike came running down the stairs, two large serving spoons in his hand. "I went to get these." He said, shaking the spoons.

Handing one to Will, Mike opened the tub of chocolate ice cream and dug in his spoon. Will took this as a sign for him to also eat the ice cream, and joined Mike on the sofa.

After around 10 minutes of the boys enjoying the cold treat, Mike spoke up, "You were right." Will raised his eyebrows. "Me and Jane didn't last."

Not knowing what else to say, Will replied, "I'm sorry."

Mike shook his head, and closed the lid of the now-empty ice cream box. "'s not your fault."

"What happened? She just broke up with you?"

Mike nodded, "Yeah, over the phone."

Will frowned, "That's shitty."

Mike shrugged, "At least I didn't cry in front of her. _That_ would have been embarrassing."

"Mike..." Will reasoned, "It's Ok to cry after a break up."

Mike didn't respond; he wiped his nose with his sleeve. After a few awkward seconds, he talked again. "You can say _I told you so_ if you want. You were right after all."

Will shook his head. "I'm sorry about yelling at you. I was being a jerk."

"Don't apologise." Mike said, "I shouldn't have ditched you for her."

"Mike... I was being irrational. You should be able to spend time with your girlfriend as well as me."

"No, I should've told her that I couldn't do Saturdays." He smiled weakly at Will, who's heart broke a tiny bit. Will moved closer to him on the couch and pulled him into a hug.

"Why'd she..."

"Break up with me? She said we weren't good together." Mike chuckled bitterly.

"She's not worth it Mike. People like Jane don't deserve someone as nice as you." Mike smiled at Will with wet eyes.

"I just... I just feel like no one would want to go out with the real me. That's why I try _so hard_ to please others."

Will shook his head. "I'd go out with you." He said. He didn't mean to say it out loud and turned red as soon as it left his mouth.

"You would?" Mike asked, turning towards him. Will nodded.

"Even though I'm lanky and too tall, and really nerdy?"

"Especially because you're lanky and tall and really nerdy." Will laughed, rolling his eyes. "I like you because you're you."

Mike's wet eyes shone as he he stared into Will's own orbs. "Thank you." He whispered.

"For what?"

"For always being here for me. Even when I'm being upset and pathetic."

"You're my best friend Mike..." Will smiled. "I'll always be here for you." After a thought he also added, "Besides, you can't get rid of me that easy."

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a kudo/ comment if you can/ want to!


End file.
